Hopper barge

ABSTRACT

A hopper barge comprises two longitudinal buoyancy chambers hinged together beneath the deck and defining over a part of their lengths a passageway interposed therebetween, which chambers can be adjusted relative to each other by means of at least one hydraulic cylinder located above the deck and hingedly connected thereto. According to the invention, the or each hydraulic cylinder has both the hinged connection of the piston rod and the hinged connection of the cylinder to the associated barge section spaced the same distance from the vertical longitudinal center plane of the barge and located near the middle of the piston rod and the middle of the cylinder, respectively.

United States Patent Primary ExaminerTrygve M. Blix Att0rneyWaters,Roditi, Schwartz & Nissen ABSTRACT: A hopper barge comprises twolongitudinal buoyancy chambers hinged together beneath the deck anddefining over a part of their lengths a passageway interposedtherebetween, which chambers can be adjusted relative to each other bymeans of at least one hydraulic cylinder located above the deck andhingedly connected thereto. According to the invention, the or eachhydraulic cylinder has both the hinged connection of the piston rod andthe hinged connection of the cylinder to the associated barge sectionspaced the same distance from the vertical longitudinal center plane ofthe barge and located near the middle of the piston rod and the middleof the cylinder, respectively.

norrsn mace The present invention relates to a hopper barge comprisingtwo longitudinal buoyancy chambers hinged together beneath the deck anddefining over a part of their lengths a passageway interposedtherebetween, which chambers can be adjusted relative to each other bymeans of one or more hydraulic cylinders located above the deck andhingedly connected thereto.

Barges of this type are known, for example from Dutch Pat. specificationNo. 106.086. In these prior art barges it is conventional that of the oreach hydraulic cylinder the cylinder and its associated piston rod,including a piston, are hingedly coupled with their distal ends tobearing brackets mounted on the deck of the adjoining barge sections. Inthe building of barges of the subject type, with ever increasingdimensions, both lengthwise and breadthwise, the requirements imposed onthe hydraulic cylinders are becoming increasingly stricter, andparticularly so to prevent the hydraulic cylinders from flexingdownwards to an unduly high extent in the region the piston rod forcesitself into the associated cylinder, which would enhance the danger ofcollapse when the cylinder is exposed to pressure.

In large barges, when in addition a large unloading opening is required,and in which high pressures are applied in the hydraulic cylinders, thecylinders become so heavy that, when the distal ends of the cylinder andits associated piston rod are hingedly connected to the vessel sectionsin the conventional manner, the safety regulations cannot be satisfiedany longer.

It is an object of this invention to overcome the above-mentioneddifficulties by an improved construction of a hydraulic cylinder for thepresent purpose and the greater possibilities for assembling resultingtherefrom.

To this effect a hopper barge according to the present invention ischaracterized in that the or each hydraulic cylinder has both the hingedconnection of the piston rod and the hinged connection of the cylinderto the associated barge section spaced the same distance from thevertical longitudinal center plane of the barge and located near themiddle of the piston and the middle of the cylinder, respectively.

In illustration of this invention one embodiment of the hopper bargewill now be described, by way of example, with reference to theaccompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a front elevational of a part of the barge in its closedstate, of which FIG. 2 is a plan view;

FIG. 3 is a front elevation of the same part of the barge in its openstate, of which FIG. 4 is a plan view.

Referring to the drawings, the two barge sections 1 and 2, which arehinged together beneath the deck, are provided on deck with pairs ofbearing brackets 3 and 4 which are to receive hingedly therein ahydraulic cylinder 5 consisting of a piston rod 6 and a cylinder '7. Thebearings of the bearing brackets of the two barge sections are spacedthe same distance from the longitudinal center plane of the barge.

The outwardly extending end of the piston rod 6 is firmly secured to thebody 8 of a U-shaped beam. The legs 9 of this beam, which are parallelto the piston rod 6, have each of their free ends mounted for hingingmovement in the associated bearing bracket 4 by means of a shaft 10disposed near the middle of the piston rod.

The cylinder 7, near its middle, is firmly accommodated in a sleeve 11which has two coaxial pivots 12 mounted for rotation in the bearingbrackets 3.

By virtue of the piston rod and the cylinder being hingedly supportedadjacent their middle portions in the manner described, the forcesimposed on these parts, especially the bending moments caused by theirweight, will be considerably more favorable than in the manner ofhingedly coupling a hydraulic cylinder to the sections of a barge of thesubject type, as has been conventional hitherto. This is evenstrengthened by the fact that counteracting moments come into being inthe two halves of the piston rod, as a result of whlch the maximumbending moment of the hydraulic cylinder in the extended position isreduced to a minimum on account of its own weight.

I claim:

1. A hopper barge comprising two longitudinal buoyancy chambers hingedtogether beneath the deck and defining over a part of their lengths apassageway interposed therebetween, which chambers can be adjustedrelative to each other by means of at least one hydraulic cylinder andpiston assembly located above the deck and hingedly connected thereto,said assembly having both the hinged connection of the piston rod andthe hinged connection of the cylinder to the associated barge sectionspaced the same distance from the vertical longitudinal center plane ofthe barge and located near the middle of the piston rod and the middleof the cylinder, respectively, the cylinder near its middle beingprovided with two coaxial radially extending pivots and the free end ofthe piston rod being firmly secured to the body of a U-shaped beam, thelegs of said U-shaped beam extending on both sides of the piston rod inparallel relationship thereto and each of said legs being provided withcoaxial hinge means adjacent the middle of the piston rod.

1. A hopper barge comprising two longitudinal buoyancy chambers hingedtogether beneath the deck and defining over a part of their lengths apassageway interposed therebetween, which chambers can be adjustedrelative to each other by means of at least one hydraulic cylinder andpiston assembly located above the deck and hingedly connected thereto,said assembly having both the hinged connection of the piston rod andthe hinged connection of the cylinder to the associated barge sectionspaced the same distance from the vertical longitudinal center plane ofthe barge and located near the middle of the piston rod and the middleof the cylinder, respectively, the cylinder near its middle beingprovided with two coaxial radially extending pivots and the free end ofthe piston rod being firmly secured to the body of a U-shaped beam, thelegs of said U-shaped beam extending on both sides of the piston rod inparallel relationship thereto and each of said legs being provided withcoaxial hinge means adjacent the middle of the piston rod.